Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy appears as a witness in a major graft trial involving members of his conservative Popular Party at Spain's High Court in San Fernando de Henares near Madrid on July 26, 2017 | TV grab/AFP via Getty Images

Spain’s Mariano Rajoy testifies as witness in corruption trial

Spanish prime minister denies knowledge of alleged corruption within his Popular Party.

MADRID — Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday became the first sitting Spanish prime minister to give witness testimony in a court case.

Rajoy was appearing before a tribunal hearing the so-called Gürtel case, a massive corruption investigation into alleged kickbacks for public contracts involving local administrations under the control of Rajoy’s Popular Party (PP) and the illegal financing of the same party.

The alleged crimes were committed between 1999 and 2005, during which time Rajoy held senior positions within the PP. Three dozen people, including top PP officials, are sitting in the dock.

“I didn’t have anything to do with the financial matters of the party, I was dedicated to the political activities,” Rajoy said Wednesday. “I’ve never dealt with any question relating to accounting [in the party]."

Rajoy also said he “had never heard anything” about businessmen giving cash to PP politicians, either for personal gain or to secure lucrative public contracts. He strayed from the script just once, telling a prosecutor that his reasoning wasn't "brilliant."

As a witness, Rajoy was legally obliged to answer every question truthfully. Any proven lie could lead to prosecution for perjury.

Rajoy had wanted to testify by videoconference, but the request was denied by the High Court (the Audiencia Nacional). For the massed ranks of journalists attending the hearing, it gave them a chance to see Rajoy answering questions on a topic he usually tries to dodge.

Corruption has been one of the most damaging issues for Rajoy and his PP. The PM has been in post since 2011, but lost his first term’s absolute majority in the parliament in 2015 elections, and has been leading a minority government since October 2016.

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Raul

He’s testifying as a “witness” for illegal funding of his party while he was the director of his party’s campaign; so the real question is why he was only questioned as a witness if he directed an illegally funded campaign?
And the answer is if Poland’s government is attempting to nominate its judges well the Spanish government nominates the people who nominate judges from ever.